


Oliver Queen Versus Harry Potter

by yet_i_remain_quiet



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Felicity reads to Oliver, Harry Potter - Freeform, Post Season 4, Pre Season 4, established olicity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-07-19 07:37:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7351951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yet_i_remain_quiet/pseuds/yet_i_remain_quiet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Felicity finds out that Oliver has never read the Harry Potter books and immediately decides to fix that. While they're on their road trip (pre-season 4), she reads the series to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oliver Queen Versus Harry Potter

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by my boredom and the moment in 4x17 when Oliver says that he's read the Harry Potter books.

Oliver looked at Felicity out of the corner of his eye, he was trying to pay attention to the road in front of him as he drove, but he kept finding his gaze drifting to the beautiful, blonde woman curled up in the seat next to him.   
  
It had been five weeks since the new couple had left Starling City and the life that they lived there, behind. They had traded their masks and late nights of chasing criminals for bed and breakfasts and lazy mornings. Their days were now filled with a new kind adventure. Oliver was surprised by the fact that he didn’t miss the action. He didn’t miss the adrenaline rush. They had travelled all around the States, visiting every landmark and tourist attraction they could find, with plans to travel next to South America before heading to Europe.   
  
There were moments where Oliver still couldn’t believe it was really happening. Times where he still expected to wake up and still be trapped on the island or in Nanda Parbat. He still had to remind himself that it was real, but he had never been happier. And he never wanted it to end. Now that he and Felicity were finally together, he couldn’t imagine being with anyone else. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.    
  
His gaze drifted over to Felicity, once again. She was curled up in the passenger seat, her feet tucked under her. She was focused on the old paperback book she held in her hand. Her brow was furrowed in concentration and she chewed on her bottom lip. Her hair was in loose waves, blowing around her face from the wind that came through the open window. Her glasses had slipped down her nose, but she was so absorbed by the page in front of her that she hadn’t seemed to notice.   
  
“What are you reading?” Oliver asked, his curiosity finally getting the best of him.   
  
“Hmm…” Felicity hummed, her attention still focused on the book in front of her.   
  
“What are you reading?” Oliver chuckled as he repeated his question. “It must be pretty interesting. You’ve been reading for the past two hours, without saying a word. I think it’s the longest you’ve ever gone without speaking.”  
  
“It’s been two hours?” Felicity looked up, shocked. “I had no idea.”  
  
“So, what has you so distracted?” Oliver asked. “You haven’t even looked at the reports from Palmer Tech.”   
  
Two weeks into the couple’s holiday, they had received the news that Ray had been killed in an explosion that had occurred while he was working on his suit. Felicity had then been informed that she had been named CEO of the company. Since then, she had received numerous reports and spent countless hours on conference calls. Which, in Oliver’s opinion, was taking away from their time away and their time spent together.   
  
“I know you said you were going to take today off from all the business, but to be honest, I thought you would have given in by now,” Oliver teased. He knew how important it was to Felicity that she uphold not only Ray’s legacy, but also his family’s legacy, as she still saw Palmer Tech partly as Queen Consolidated.   
  
“I know,” Felicity put her book down. “But this is just as important, if not more.”  
  
“So, what is it?” Oliver pressed, curious what had her attention.  
  
“Harry Potter,” she responded, she held the book up. Oliver could see tape holding the spine together, the cover was so faded he couldn’t make out the title or the picture.   
  
“What?” Oliver asked, he leaned forward, trying to take a closer look at the faded images on the cover. “Is that what that is?”  
  
“Eyes on the road,” she teased, putting the book down on her lap.   
  
“Sorry,” he replied, a smile on his face.  
  
Felicity turned back to her book, opening it to the marked pages, once again, tuning out the rest of world as she read. Silence filled the car.   
  
“I’ve never read them,” Oliver admitted, after several minutes of silence.   
  
“What?!” Felicity screeched. She turned to face Oliver, her eyes wide behind her glasses, a look of disbelief on her face. “How is that even possible? Everyone had read them. My mother has read them.”  
  
“Nope, not me,” Oliver breathed out a laugh at her reaction.   
  
“What - How - What -“ she sputtered. “Oliver, it’s a rite of passage for our generation. How it is possible? Never? Not even one?”  
  
“I was on an island for five years,” he reminded her. “There weren’t exactly books there.”  
  
“But, you told me that you were also in Hong Kong and Russia, they would have had books there,” she rambled, gesturing wildly with her hands. “Not to mention, The Deathly Hallows, which is the last book in the series, was released in 2007, before you disappeared, I think. But still, all the others were out. You would have been able to read them before.”  
  
“I wasn’t much of a reader,” Oliver shrugged. “Before, the island, I mean. Books weren’t really my thing.”  
  
“Right, your _thing_ was girls and partying, and peeing on police cars,” Felicity sneered.  
  
“That was one time,” Oliver muttered regretfully.  
  
“I just can’t believe it,” Felicity continued to mumble in disbelief.  
  
“I think I took Thea to see one of the movies,” he interrupted. “But I’m not sure which one. I think there was a dragon.”  
  
“A dragon?” Felicity repeated. “That’s all you remember.”  
  
Oliver looked sheepish. “I might have been a little distracted, there was a girl at the concession.”  
  
“A girl? Really, Oliver?” Felicity grumbled. “And you went without reading the books. Did you see any of the other movies then?”  
  
“There was more than one?” he joked, enjoying Felicity’s reaction.   
  
“Oliver, this hurts me,” Felicity said dramatically. “In my soul.”  
  
“I wasn’t much of a reader,” he excused. “And movies weren’t really my thing either.”  
  
“Really?” she sneered. “Mr Playboy didn’t enjoy taking a pretty girl to a dark movie theatre…”   
  
“Ugh, no,” Oliver made a face, understanding what Felicity was implying. “I might not have been the greatest boyfriend back then, but I had more taste than that.”  
  
“Good.”  
  
“Are they really that good?” he asked, gesturing to the book that still lay on Felicity’s lap.  
  
Her jaw dropped. “‘That good’,” she echoed. “Oliver, this series is a phenomenon. It’s a culture,” Felicity waved her arms around. “These books are modern day classics. They have a theme park.”  
  
“Really? Where? Maybe we should make a stop there,” he said.  
  
Felicity deflated against her seat. “You wouldn’t truly appreciate it. I’d have to spend all my time explaining everything to you. Not without…” she trailed off with a gasp. There was an excited look on her face. She bent down, digging through the bag that lay at her feet.  
  
“What are you doing?” Oliver wondered.  
  
“I am about to change your life,” Felicity promised. She sat back up, holding another book against her chest.  
  
“You already have.”  
  
“No, really change,” Felicity countered, ignoring Oliver’s compliment. “Your life will never be the same.”  
  
Oliver looked back at the road, laughing at his girlfriend’s antics.  
  
“Are you ready?” she challenged.  
  
“Sure,” Oliver replied. “You’ve already completely changed my life, you agreed to be with me, to leave our lives behind and basically run away with me. I’m not sure how you can top that, but what the hell, you’re always surprising me.”  
  
Felicity’s gaze softened for a moment, then she shook her head. “This will. But, please, still pay attention to the road.  
  
 _“‘Chapter One. The Boy Who Lived. Mr and Mrs Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much’…_ ” Felicity started to read from the book.  
  
Oliver listened, and within minutes, was lost in the story, imagining the world being described in the words and pages of the story. He laughed as Felicity took on different voices for each of the characters. He was completely lost in the magic and world of the book.   
  
He found himself empathizing with Harry’s character. The lost boy, who had been alone for so long, but suddenly thrust into a world where everyone knew him. The feeling of being caught between doing what was expected of him and being who he wanted to be.  
  
“We’re here,” Felicity announced, marking the page and putting the book back into the bag that lay at her feet.  
  
Oliver was surprised by how quickly they had reached their destination, he pulled into the parking lot of the hotel they would be staying at.   
  
“I’ll get us checked in, but…” he trailed off.  
  
“What?” Felicity asked. She had unbuckled her seat belt and had her hand on the door handle.  
  
“Can we keep reading? Once we’re in the room,” Oliver asked eagerly.   
  
“Of course,” she answered smiling.   
  
Once they had checked in and were in their room, Oliver took Felicity’s hand, he led her to the bed and laid down, pulling her against his chest. “Okay,” he prompted, after getting her a few seconds to get comfortable. “Read.”  
  
“So demanding,” she teased.  
  
“Felicity,” he whined impatiently.  
  
Felicity laughed, and held the book up, she found the place where she had left off and continued to read.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“Wait, on the back of his head?” Oliver interrupted Felicity’s reading the following night. “So, if he turned around, there would still be a face…”  
  
“Yes, can I?” Felicity held the book up.  
  
“That’s disgusting,” Oliver shuddered. “I thought this was a children’s book.”  
  
“It is. Can I keep reading?” she asked. “We’re almost finished.”  
  
“Right. Sorry. Yes.”  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“A flying car?” Oliver asked excitedly. “Do you think Cisco could make one?”  
  
Felicity laughed. “I’m sure he’s tried,” she took a sip of water, her throat feeling dry from all the reading she had done over the past week.  
  
“Keep going,” he encouraged.   
  
  


* * *

  
  
“Giant spiders? Giant spiders that eat human?”  
  
“Focus Oliver.”  
  
“I’m happy there weren’t any of those on the island.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“Wait… so this map, it can’t be fooled by anything right? Even if someone were using Polyjuice Potion or was in their animal form.”  
  
“Right.”  
  
“And Fred and George had it.”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“Didn’t they ever wonder why their brother seemed to be sharing a bed with someone named Peter Pettigrew?”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
“I don’t trust that guy.”  
  
“Who? Mad-Eye?”  
  
“Yeah, him, with the eye.”  
  
“Why not?”  
  
“Teaching children the spells that they call ‘unforgivable’, and doing the spells on them? Something’s off there.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“I want one of those,” Oliver mumbled sleepily. He was resting his head on Felicity’s stomach as she read, she was running her fingers through his hair. The couple was now in Spain, enjoying a relaxing day on the beach.   
  
“What?” she asked, looking up from the book. They were now nearing the end of the fourth book.   
  
“The thing to put your thoughts into,” Oliver clarified.  
  
“Oh, a pensieve,” Felicity nodded. She looked up, staring out over the ocean. “Why?”  
  
“I could put the memories I don’t want to remember in there,” he whispered, nestling his face on Felicity’s stomach, his eyes were closed and she could tell he was close to falling asleep.    
  
She marked the page and put the book down beside them. A wave a sadness crashed through her, she knew Oliver had come a long way since she had first met him. But he was still haunted by so much, though he tried to hide it, she knew that he still had nightmares. She would wake up to find him thrashing in bed, the blankets thrown off as he mumbled in his sleep. Still haunted by the horrors of his five years away.   
  
“That would be nice,” he mumbled.  
  
Felicity closed her eyes tightly, fighting tears, she could feel his breathing even out as he fell asleep.   
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“Do you think they ever had any normal classes?”  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“Like Math or English?”  
  
“I don’t know, Oliver.”  
  
“And what about before they turned 11, did they go to normal, muggle schools. Hermione would have, she was Muggleborn.”  
  
“Why is that relevant?”  
  
“I’m just saying, how would they know how to add and subtract? Did they just use magic? Like we use calculators. Was there an elementary school for magical children? Or did they just stay at home until they turned 11?”  
  
   
  


* * *

  
  
  
“Wait, what? No! She can’t just — No, he can’t be.”  
  
“Oliver?”  
  
“That’s just… that’s stupid.”  
  
“Oliver.”  
  
“It’s not fair, Felicity.”  
  
“…”  
  
“He can’t just die. Sirius can’t just die. It’s not fair. Harry was supposed to go live with him, to get away from the Dursleys. Sirius was supposed to tell him all the crazy things that he and Harry’s dad did growing up.”  
  
“Oliver…”  
  
“It’s just wrong. He’s can’t just die.”  
  
“…”  
  
“Killed by his own cousin. It’s not fair.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“Felicity?”  
  
“…”  
  
“Felicity? Are you awake?”  
  
“… I am now.”  
  
“What house do you think I would be in? I mean, if Hogwarts was real, what house would I be in?”  
  
“I don’t know, Oliver.”  
  
“Do you think I could be in Gryffindor?”  
  
“Yes, definitely.”  
  
“Really? I’ve done some terrible things… I’d probably end up in Slytherin.”  
  
“Maybe, but you’ve also spent that last three years trying to save an entire city, not many Slytherins would do that.”  
  
“Maybe. You’d be Ravenclaw, I bet. Because you’re so smart.”  
  
“Sure… Can I go back to sleep now?”  
  
“Right. Sorry.”  
  


* * *

  
  
"Snape? Seriously?"  
  
“…”  
  
“Snape killed Dumbledore?”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“But… I thought he was a good guy?”  
  
“Well…”  
  
“I mean, I know Harry and his friends always thought he was bad. But Dumbledore said to trust him… But wow.”  
  
“I thought you hated Snape.”  
  
“Oh, I did, don’t get me wrong. I just never thought that he would kill Dumbledore, I mean…”  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
Felicity heard a quiet sniffle from above her, she had been leaning against his chest, his arms wrapped around her waist. She paused in her reading, “Oliver?”  
  
He didn’t respond. She turned her head to look up at him. “Oliver… Are you crying?”  
  
“What? No,” he blurted, he rubbed his face with his hands.   
  
“Really?” she asked as she felt something wet drip onto her head.   
  
Oliver looked up at the ceiling, rapidly blinking. His eyes were brighter than usual.  
  
Felicity stared at him, she closed the book, keeping her finger in it, marking the page, waiting for him to speak.   
  
“… Fine. But it’s sad,” he finally admitted, he wiping his cheeks with his hands. “Dobby didn’t deserve to die. Okay? He was just a innocent little elf. And it’s not fair. He saved them. And then, he just died. How is that fair?”  
  
“Maybe we should take a break,” she suggested.   
  
“No! I mean, you can keep reading,” Oliver said. “I’m fine.”  
  
“Okay…”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
“Wait, so Lily and Snape were friends?”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“They were friends… and he was in love with her. So in love with her that his patronus took the form of a doe, which is the same thing that her’s was.”  
  
“… Yes.”  
  
“So why the hell was he so awful to Harry then?”  
  
“Because he hated James, I guess, and seeing Harry, who looked so much like James, was the constant reminder that Lily didn’t choose him.”  
  
“Well, that’s just stupid. And what about Neville, or Hermione? He was terrible to them too.”  
  
“I don’t know, Oliver.”  
  
  


* * *

  
“Hey, Felicity?”  
  
“Yes?”  
  
“I was just thinking, Dumbledore wasn’t the nicest guy?”  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“I mean, he knew, almost from the very beginning, that Harry was a Horocrux, right? So, in the sixth book, when he’s taking Harry to find them and teaching him about them, he knew. He knew that Harry was one of them. He knew that Harry would eventually have to sacrifice himself if they wanted to defeat Dumbledore, so why didn’t he tell him?”  
  
“I don’t know, I mean, there had to be a seventh book…”  
  
“And the only way Harry found out was because Snape died and gave Harry his memories. So, if that hadn’t happened, Harry wouldn’t have gone, he wouldn’t have sacrificed himself. So then what would have happened?”  
  
“I think you’re thinking too much into this, Oliver.”  
  
“I’m just saying…”  
  
“Don’t ever let me show you fanfiction…”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“THEY NAMED THEIR KIDS WHAT?”  
  
“Albus—“  
  
“No, I heard you, I was just hoping that you were joking.”  
  
“…”  
  
“Wow… Do they want their kids to get beat up? Albus Severus… That’s awful.”  
  
“…”   
  
“And really, what about Lupin? Lupin who taught Harry how to cast a patronus, or Hagrid who told him he was a wizard and took him to Diagonally and bought him Hedwig. What about them?”  
  
“…”  
  
“No, let’s name the kid after the guy who treated him like garbage for 7 years, might as well have named him Tom…”  
  
“I think I’m regretting reading you these books…”  
“You were right though, definitely life changing.”  
  
“I’m always right.”  
  


* * *

  
  
  
It was late one night, one year after Oliver and Felicity returned to Star City, three months after the team had defeated Damien Darhk, and one month after Felicity and Oliver had got back together, that Felicity came home late to the smell of popcorn. She had been working late at Palmer Tech, having been reinstated as the CEO after the defeat of Damien Darhk, and was exhausted. She entered the loft that she and Oliver shared to find it dark, but the salty scent of freshly popped popcorn lingered in the air.   
  
“Oliver?” she called.  
  
“In here,” he answered, his voice coming from the living room.   
  
She walked into the living room and saw Oliver laying on the couch, the popcorn was in a bowl on the coffee table.  
  
“What’s going on?” she asked as she made her way over to him, sitting next to him on the couch.   
  
“A surprise,” he replied. He pulled on her arm, causing her to lay on the couch with him. There wasn’t a lot of space so she lay half on top of him, laying her head on his chest. “I was thinking, since you have tomorrow off, that we could watch the Harry Potter movies, because we never got to it before we came back to Star City. And when we did, we were so busy and then…”  
  
“Then we broke up,” Felicity finished softly. “You didn’t ever watch them?”  
  
“I tried,” Oliver admitted quietly. “But, but it wasn’t the same without you.”  
  
Felicity smiled at him and nodded her head, she cuddled back onto his chest, reaching for the popcorn. Oliver grinned, hitting the play button on the remote. The couple went quiet as the movie started, the only sound that could be heard was the familiar first notes of the movie’s soundtrack.


End file.
